Chamindika Wanduragala is a Sri Lankan born, US artist, who recently received a grant to travel to Sri Lanka for her exhibition of oil pastel drawings at Barefoot Gallery. She is also the co-founder and co-director of the US’s first Sri Lankan American arts organisation called "Diaspora Flow."

Chamindika has exhibited throughout the United States and has received grants in support of her work. Her art deals with the psychological dimension of the interactions between people. These tensions are highlighted by bright, contrasting colors, unique facial expressions, and attention to detail. Each drawing is a journey where experiences and relationships are transformed into mythical tales. Many of the pieces deal with the discovery or giving of wisdom/enlightenment. The people in the drawings inhabit a space between dream, reality, and myth.

Chamindika’s art is also influenced by the multicultural experience of growing up in the US. She left Sri Lanka in 1980 at the age of 6, with her parents, Lionel and Sumithra, and her two brothers. Her talent comes from her mother, Sumithra, an accomplished painter who focuses her paintings on the landscapes of Sri Lanka.

She has developed her own style during the past 8 years of working with oil pastels. The work is neither realistic nor abstract. Her characters strike a raw balance between dream and reality.